


The Sibling Complex

by RenaRoo



Series: Amalgamation [1]
Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types, X-Men (Comicverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-03
Updated: 2017-05-03
Packaged: 2018-10-27 17:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10813218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RenaRoo/pseuds/RenaRoo
Summary: [Amalgam AU] After the World Merge, there are many ways in which crime is spreading to the unfamiliar terrains of the combined Earth. And Heroes will have to get proactive in order to keep up.But beyond that, Gabby and Laura have an obligation to Tyger Tyger to fulfill meanwhile in Gotham Cassandra and Damian decide it's time for a dual patrol.





	The Sibling Complex

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shobogan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shobogan/gifts).



> Prompt: ( @shobogan ) DAMIAN AND GABBY, HOW DID I NEVER THINK OF THIS “do you have a big sister too?” “tch. ……yes.”
> 
> A/N: Okay so even though I’ve still not gotten around to writing the main MAIN fic for this universe, I couldn’t help but tie this little team up into the big Amalgamation Comic Universe I’ve been dreaming up for the last few months. So that’s what’s being referred to as the ‘Merge” and ‘Mergers’ are people from other worlds/continuities that you don’t identify with. 
> 
> For all intents and purposes this is Prime/New-Earth Damian and Cassandra, with 616 Laura and Gabby. If you don’t know what that means, you’re a more worthwhile human being than myself, lemme tell ya.

Jonathan’s seatbelt wasn’t _quite_ fitting the way it was supposed to, though Gabby figured it wouldn’t. It was created for _dogs_ and not _wolverines._ Still, he seemed content enough, sleeping in the backseat all to himself under all the blankets and pillows that she and Laura had packed for their journey. 

“I think he’ll sleep the _whole_ ride this time,” Gabby informed Laura. She was sitting on her knees in the passenger seat, leaning against the corner of the chair to better look at their pet. “We won’t have to take a pee break.”

“And I remember telling you to sit down and use your seatbelt,” Laura responded, not taking her eyes off the road, though Gabby suspected that behind her sunglasses she was glancing into the rearview mirror. 

Sticking out her lower lip, Gabby flipped around in the seat and sunk down. “You’re not wearing _your_ seatbelt either, Laura,” she said pointedly all the same.

“I have a healing factor,” Laura said plainly.

“So do I,” Gabby countered.

Laura bothered to actually look at Gabby and lower her chin enough that she could look at Gabby over her sunglasses. There was no humor in her eyes, though Gabby never lost sight of that bit of affection Laura only had for her, Deborah, and Megan. 

“I’m older,” Laura said in that flat, _this is final_ tone she had perfected. 

“Of course you’re older! I’m a clone of _you,_ duh,” Gabby said, but she already reached for her seatbelt and pulled it over her shoulder. “Some day that’s not going to be a good enough excuse, y’know.”

“It’ll always be enough for me,” Laura replied, looking back to the road. “I also distinctly remember that I told you that if Jonathan had to use the bathroom, you could teach him to go in a cup as easily as you taught him to go in a litter box.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Gabby said, nose curling. “Someone would have to _hold_ the cup for him.”

“Not _someone,”_ Laura said, smirking a bit. “Just you.”

“Ugh,” Gabby rolled her eyes. “Why’re we even going to this new place? This… _Gotham?_ Ever since the explosion and all the weird stuff with the world popping up and the Jean-Grey School going public again, I thought we’d be… I don’t know, staying around there? Or if we _have_ to explore new places from the other worlds, why can’t we start at some of the fun sounding ones? Like _Metropolis_ or _Sternbild_ or _Miracle City–”_

“This isn’t an adventure, Gabby,” Laura said simply. “This is a favor for Tyger Tyger.”

Surprised, but not _that_ surprised, Gabby settled in her seat and reached for her own sunglasses from the glove compartment. “I should’ve known you were still allergic to fun.” 

“You should have,” Laura agreed. “Seems several businesses that Tyger once had a firmer grasp on in Madripoor are making large moves on her operation. The sorts of moves that require a lot of financial support to see them through. Financial support that _used_ to be provided by her and her alone but, with how everything has been since the Merge, it seems that there are some additions to Intergang’s watchlist. And they seem to be taking roost in some of the places that are outside of her banks’ former influences.”

Gabby tapped on her chin. “So, criminal hubs that _weren’t_ around before the Merge, but now want to take advantage of power vacuums. Makes sense.”

“Gotham is one of those hubs,” Laura explained. “A port city with an apparently ages old criminal history built into the brick and mortar. And it’s on the East Coast of the United States which would make it conveniently a world away from Madripoor, Hong Kong, and the majority of Tyger Tyger’s surveillance.”

With a smirk Gabby poked her sister’s shoulder. “And because of _someone_ you know, you just happen to have earned Tyger Tyger’s trust, huh?”

“Something like that,” Laura said simply. “I already thanked you for it, though, so there’s no reason to bring it back up.”

“Except maybe to get thanked again. Since we’re going to _Gotham_ instead of any of the cool and awesome places that _aren’t_ full of seedy undergrounds and people who are going to be shooting us pretty soon,” Gabby answered. “Liiiike Miracle City–”

“We’re not going to England today,” Laura said plainly. “And I’ve heard… conflicting things about this mysterious _Miracle Man._ I’d not put too many eggs in that basket, Gabby.”

“You’re right,” Gabby hummed, pulling up her smart phone to play games on. “I mean, it’s _kinda_ pretentious to name yourself _Miracle Man_ isn’t it?”

“Very,” Laura agreed. “Which is saying something since you’re friends with a kid named Genesis.”

“Your original name was Talon,” Gabby said simply. “Glass houses, Laura.”

“And _you_ still haven’t picked one,” Laura remarked. “Not so easy is it?”

Gabby pointed toward the backseat. “I named Jonathan! I don’t know why you can’t give me one that isn’t stupid for free.”

"I’m driving us to Gotham, I’ll think of something you’ll _hate_ on the way,” Laura remarked with a smirk.

“You’re the worst,” Gabby laughed, though she didn’t mean it. 

She didn’t mean it at all.

* * *

Working _with_ others was beneath him when he considered himself an al Ghul. Working with Grayson had been an _adjustment_ and the sort of opportunity for learning he would never admit to out loud. Working with his Father had been a pain which throbbed, upsetting and mismatched, until they at last found each other’s patterns.

Damian took time and effort with teamwork and it was never once a _pleasurable_ experience because it nearly always involved sharing his time with someone he would rather _not_ have. And that was an annoyance almost beyond measure. 

“Tt, I would have more delightful conversation with _Goliath_ tonight than with _you,”_ Damian asserted, arms still crossed and nose high toward the sky. 

For a moment, that seemed to _almost_ faze Cain as she bothered to look up from the cheaply made paper flyer to Damian, then back to the colorful brochure. 

Annoyed with the lack of response, Damian leaned in and curled his nose at her. “If you _must_ know, _that_ was an insult lotted toward _you,”_ he continued to inform her. 

Cassandra looked up, a knowing glint in her brown eyes as she gave a small smirk and responded with the most infuriating, quiet, “Thank you,” Damian had ever heard.

“This annoyance of a public outing is over and I am _ready_ to leave this campus before _more_ of my classmates come across us to ask questions and compliment that _stupid_ barrette in your hair again,” Damian growled, looking over the grounds of Gotham Academy. “Mizoguchi alone would be an _unending_ barrage of questions.”

Cass put her hands and the brochure into her pocket and glanced back out. “Mmkay,” she said. “Waiting on…?”

Glaring at her, Damian could _not_ have further expressed his aggravation. “On our _ride_ since Father so rudely left halfway through.”

“Told him to go home,” Cass explained, looking back to Damian. “Said we could… _walk.”_

Damian’s eye twitched. “Why didn’t you _say_ anything?” She shrugged simply to _defy_ him. “Walk? _Walk_ to Bristol? Have you lost your mind–”

“I think we,” she said, bringing her book bag around her shoulder and pulling out just enough of her mask that Damian could tell what it was, “should… _bond._ Been a while.”

Memories of exploding bridges and the risk of a family name larger than both of them came to mind as Damian grinned ear to ear. “You _do_ make up for insufficiencies with some amount of _style,_ Cain.”

"I know,” she replied somewhat cockily as they headed toward the nearest alley and began to quickly switch attire. 

While there were many things about Cassandra that Damian was _uncertain_ about, especially with her strangely youthful presence after what his Father was referring to as the great Merge, the one thing he was always sure to admire was her combative skill. 

He still remembered the tinges of jealousy that hung off of him like weights the first time they had met face to face back during the Architect’s attacks on Gotham. He remembered how completely unfazed she was by his cutting words.

Back then he had been willing to give credit for that to Cassandra’s lack of proficiency in spoken language, but lately he learned that was not the case. 

Instead she defeated him shear self-confidence and assuredness. HIs words may have cut deep, but she still had layers of armor made out of pure conviction. 

Though, he _had_ been right about her sparsity in using her tongue.

After they rounded a third mile, Damian was slightly falling behind Cassandra. And that, of course, _simply_ was not going to work.

“I refuse to go another _centimeter_ without you explaining what our plans for the rest of the evening are, Black Bat,” he said promptly. “It is only ten thirty and _prime_ patrol activity is best between the hours of midnight and four AM.”

“Won’t be expecting us then,” Cass said with a smirk, looking back behind him.

“ _Who_ won’t be?” he asked testily. 

“Ships,” she answered again before reaching for her grappling gun. 

“Ships,” Damian repeated flatly.

“Ships,” Cassandra confirmed before taking the next swing. 

Annoyed once again, Damian followed suit, quickly getting distance covered and making a point of leaping ahead of Cassandra by their next landing. He could _see_ that they were at Cape Carmine, which answered _what_ ships, but left another question. 

“ _Why_ ships?” Damian half-whined. “Do you have information on them? Do you have any suspicions about their use? What intel have you gotten from that new Network of Batgirls-United or _whatever_ it is that Oracle is up to these days?” 

“Sh,” Cass said shortly. “No information. No intel. Gut.”

Immediately annoyed, Damian narrowed his eyes and followed Cassandra almost reluctantly. “That is _not_ enough to encourage confidence in you, Cain!” he told her firmly.

“Sh, codenames,” she corrected, as if he was still _green_ in more than just his boots. 

“I don’t _need_ to use them because there is _no one around,”_ he growled after as they reached the edge of the docks and easily crossed over the barbwire fence. 

Though Damian hated to admit it to himself – and would never _dare_ to admit it out loud – he truly could sit back and appreciate the ease with which Cassandra moved herself forward. She had the sort of grace in her movements that was natural like Grayson, but there was a determination and ferocity to everything as well.

It made Damian feel familiar with her in ways that he seldom felt with anyone. 

Once Damian landed, Cassandra glanced from one side of the port to the other then pointed to the far off shore. “Take that side,” she ordered.

Damian was more than a little taken aback by the order. “On my own?” he asked, uncertain if she realized what she was saying.

A soft smile came to Cass’ face and she glanced toward him. “Trust you,” she assured him.

Heat came to Damian’s face but he abruptly ignored it, pushing past his sister and heading toward the docks as ordered. “Of course you do,” he made light of the commentary. “Everyone should trust me. I’m the best.”

“Sure,” Cass replied with more amusement in her voice than he liked, but she did not double back behind him. She certainly went her own way and left Damian completely unsupervised.

It was the sort of trust and confidence that he usually only earned after several disobeyed orders – both with his father and with Grayson. 

As impressed as Damian was with the simple act, however, it began to quickly fade once he actually began patrolling the area. There was not so much as a dock worker on shift in his area, and his combing of the landscape began to feel more and more like a useless chore. 

“I _told_ her,” he whine petulantly, “there’s no one here! And the best hours for patrol are later. People are still out and awake at…”

With that, Damian took pause and looked around the docks once more. They were completely barren, his search had assured him of that. 

And _that_ was where the problem lied. 

 _"UGH!”_ Damian growled, going for some high ground in his frustration so as to have a better vantage point and see along the harbor. “Why can she never _explain_ a damn thing! Such an annoyance.”

He leered over the skyline, unimpressed with the fact that a ship, surely enough, was fast approaching. 

“All it would have taken was a _single_ word, Cain,” he muttered to himself. “You truly _are_ like father. And here I thought the others had been vastly _exaggerating.”_

His focus, however, was taken from the approaching ship when he noticed quick movement in the distance. 

Eyes narrowing, Damian turned more toward the direction of the motion and, sure enough, from one shadow to the next leapt a small figure – no bigger than himself. And though the _exact_ details of the costume were unfamiliar, Damian recognized high grade armor when he saw it. 

“Tt, still haven’t memorized _all_ of the files we have on new heroes and villains after the Merge,” Damian growled to himself. “I will have to correct that after I fix _this.”_

The unknown assailant was ducking into a warehouse only one over from Damian’s own perch, which made it easy enough to leap to one of the top windows and quietly lift it open after a lightning quick lockpick job. 

Inside, the darkness provided even _more_ cover for them both, but the advantage was still to Damian given the small thief was not aware of him yet. 

A small, drowning part of his conscience was worried that just _perhaps_ he should have alerted Cassandra as to what he was doing, but he figured if _she_ could leave out some details, so could _he._

“Hey, I think I’ve found an empty hangar,” the small girl said, touching the side of her face mask as she walked away. “It’s the thirteenth, so that means it’s unlucky. Sounds about like us. It’s good that we didn’t bring Jonathan.”

Damian was more than a little disgusted to see such a young girl being used for what seemed to be a very organized attack. But at the same time, her determination and unwavering disposition didn’t leave him any doubt about her possible guilt. 

She reminded him more of Katrina and the other ruffians that Colin was spending time with in the East End under Catwoman’s proverbial wing. 

“You want me to just _stay_ here?” the girl whined. After a pause she let out a groan. “None of them ever get _past you,_ Laura. That’s my point. Let me move– Ugh. I hate when she hangs up.”

The girl crossed her arms, _childishly_ in Damian’s opinion, and looked around the warehouse as if curiously bored when she suddenly went stiff. 

Her rigidness caught Damian by surprise, it was obvious to him even if he was not the world class body language expert that Cassandra was. The girl’s shoulders hunched forward and she began moving her head around widely in a circular motion, sniffing the air like some sort of dog. 

Damian’s eyebrows raised curiously as the girl hunkered down more and, to his surprise, unleashed what looked like a bony claw from her hands. 

It took a moment, but Damian realized that she was onto him, and if he did not strike _quickly_ and get things under control, his advantage would be lost. 

Without a moment’s hesitation, he leaped to the nearest rafters, using the arc of his own jump to quickly fling several Batarangs the mysterious foe’s way. She somersalted away from the first two and then sliced through the remaining with the two hand claws then a foot claw that had appeared through her boot when Damian wasn’t watching it. 

The pieces dropped around her and she seemed to be examining them at least for the moment. Damian took the opportunity to fling himself downward and aim a kick for her head. 

The girl let out an aggressive grunt as the kick hit, but rather than fall to the ground she quickly recovered and slid back on her heels. 

There was no seeing her eyes through the large, pink goggles she was wearing, but Damian knew a disgruntled expression when he saw one. 

“Are you picking a fight with me?” she demanded.

“I’m _winning_ a fight with you,” Damian corrected before pulling out blades and rushing forward at her. 

“Oh, confident,” she mocked, easily blocking his swings with her forearms before kicking Damian in the chest and knocking the air out of him. “Sorry, if I lost a fight to someone like _you_ I’d never hear the end of it from my sister. Do you know how long it took me to convince her to not leave me in the motel with Jonathan? At _least_ two minutes of my sappy eyes. I’m supposed to reserve those for emergencies.”

“You need to shut your mouth, woman!” Damian growled as he continued to attack her.

She let out a long gasp as she caught Damian’s foot. “Oh my god. Are you like… nine? I’m not supposed to beat up babies. It’s not good for my _karma!”_ She then used the momentum of his foot to twist him midair and send him to the ground chest first. She seemed _intent_ on not letting him have enough air.

"I,” Damian wheezed as he began to block attacks. “Am… _Not… NINE!”_

With his final declaration, Damian used a two finger strike right for the girl’s throat, causing her to choke immediately and back up, grabbing at the plating armor and pull it forcefully away from her skin to try and relieve her bruised trachea. 

Then there was an enormous explosion just outside. 

Both Damian and the girl turned toward the sound, eyes wide. 

“Black Bat!” Damian called out despite himself.

“Wolverine!” the girl yelled. She then released a vicious growl that _shouldn’t_ have been possible given the bruising of her throat Damian had just given her, and quickly kicked Damian across the face, a wicked attack punctuated by a deep cut that ran across his cheek due to one of her claws.

Damian hit the ground and the girl took off toward the harbor. But he wasn’t going to stay down long. 

* * *

In all the time that Gabby had spent with Laura, she had come to learn that _explosions_ usually meant _Wolverine_ and that usually came with a sense of _trouble._

Trouble which, whether Laura liked it or not, Gabby had gotten _very_ good at getting her out of. 

After losing the weirdo in the cape, Gabby quickly made her way toward the source of the explosion and was not deterred by fire or recursive blasts because she knew that a healing factor plus a little determination was more than enough to help her as much as it did Laura. 

“Wolverine!” she yelled out, ignoring the way the flames licked at her heels and singed her hair the more she ran toward it. “Wolverine, where are you–” 

Before the words had fully escaped her mouth, she was snagged by the back of her armor and pulled into the air. It reminded her of her not-so-long-ago run in with Spider-Woman, flying through the air at a swing.

But it wasn’t _any_ of the Spider-people that Gabby knew when she looked back, but rather a woman dressed all in black and gold, swinging from a grappling hook that wouldn’t have been out of place in the arsenal that Gabby and her clone sisters were trained with in the labs. 

 _That_ wasn’t a memory she reflected on fondly. 

“Let _go!_ I have to find my sister!” Gabby warned before extending her left claw and slashing out at the woman holding her. 

The move somehow didn’t surprise the woman as she went in for a landing far away from the fire, tossing Gabby by her shirt to flip her in the air. Then, just before Gabby’s face could meet the pavement, the woman caught her by her foot. 

It was a cool move, and if Gabby wasn’t worried about her sister at the moment, she probably would have marveled at it more. But as things were, she _needed_ to find Laura, and this lady was becoming a nuisance.

“I need to find… _Wolverine!”_ she growled before extending her claw and stabbing the woman in the arm with it. 

 _That_ had apparently been a surprise to her where the swing had not been, and the woman dropped her without so much as a word or a grunt. Which was _weird_ , but Gabby was again preoccupied by tucking into a quick roll and landing on all fours to face the would-be attacker. 

The woman looked at her, then out to the explosion and the bay. She looked back to Gabby. “Sister is on the ship,” the woman explained. “Stay. _I_ will get her.”

At first, the command caught Gabby off guard. Then she tilted her head and waved to her attire. “What? Do I _look_ like a civilian kid to you or something? because I’m definitely _not_ that!”

She glared at Gabby then looked up, drawing Gabby’s attention upwards as well and to the annoyance she _thought_ she had left in the warehouse. 

“Not _you_ again!” she all but groaned just before the kid tackled her with a feral growl. 

They struggled, rolling with each other and landing punches and kicks where they could without much mind to the woman in black and gold. At least not until she cleared her throat and the colorfully clad kid looked to her almost in irritation. 

“Keep her here,” the older woman ordered.

“Since when were you in charge of me, Black Bat?” he snapped at her, leaving his cheek open for a good punch that Gabby was more than happy to take. “YOU!!!”

Before either of them could continue on, however, the mystery woman raced forward, past the flaming dock and toward another. With a few swift leaps, she was at the bow of a fishing ship and then leaping toward the bay, grappling hook in hand. It eventually hit the distant ship attempting to steer away from the harbor. The so-called Black Bat hit the waters and disappeared, but for a while, with her goggles, Gabby was able to trace the ripples of her trailing behind the boat and gaining on it. 

Gabby sat up on the boy’s chest and allowed herself to feel impressed for a few moments. “Wow,” she said. “That was almost cool.”

“Get _off_ me!” the boy snarled before kicking up with all his might and forcing Gabby to do just that. 

She tucked into a roll and then leaped to her feet, claws drawn. 

The other kid was ready with bat-shaped throwing weapons. 

Both of them were heaving for breath. 

“What’s your _deal!?”_ Gabby snapped. “I was trying to help my sister stop smugglers!”

“Tt, likely story,” he snapped back. “And even if you _were_ , this is not _your_ city to do such for. This city belongs to Batman and Robin.”

Blinking some, Gabby loosened up and glanced back toward where the mystery woman had gone to follow after Laura and the ship. “Her costume didn’t _look_ like a Robin–”

"Fool! She isn’t Robin!” the bright red child – in costume _and_ face – yelled at her. “ _I_ am Robin! The _best_ Robin that there’s ever been.”

“Robin,” Gabby repeated before putting her hands on her hips. “I guess Wolverine was right. It _is_ important to put more thought into a superhero name so it doesn’t end up being something stupid.”

“I’ll kick that insolent mouth,” he snarled.

“You’re being silly,” Gabby informed him. “But it’s kinda cool to have a superhero named _Batman_ like that. I guess some good things _did_ come out of the Merge. There’s a woman Wolverine, so why not–”

“That _wasn’t_ Batman!” Robin snapped. “That was Black Bat! _Obviously.”_

Gabby narrowed her eyes. “How is that _obvious?_ That’s like saying _oh, they’re Inhuman, not a Mutant. Obviously._ Like unless you have a Cerebro, how’re you going to _really_ know at first glance–”

“What are you talking about?” Robin growled.

“What’re _you_ talking about?” Gabby fired back. 

They stared at each other for a good long minute before being distracted by the sounds of gunfire over the harbor. They both looked and, in the corner of her eye, Gabby could see despair and concern wash over the Robin’s face before he regained his sour composure. 

“So you’re from one of the _other_ places during the Merge, huh.” Gabby said, finally putting away her claws and folding her arms across her chest. 

“I suppose the same could be said about you,” Robin said stuffily. “Save for the fact that _I_ belong here. Gotham has the heroes it is meant to have. But _you_ are unfamiliar.”

“Eh, come up to Westchester, We’ll probably say the same about you,” Gabby joked lightly with a shrug. “Besides, we only came down here on business for a friend. I think. I don’t know. Wolverine gets in these moods and it’s like she forgets I’m the greatest partner, like, _ever._ And it’d _always_ go smoother if she actually let me in on things, y’know?”

“Tt, _no,”_ Robin snapped. “There is _complete_ disclosure between myself and my partner. I have earned it through a lifetime of training and perfection.”

Looking him over, Gabby was having a hard time deciding whether or not this kid was actually _real._ So she turned attention back to the harbor. “So you know what’s on that shipment that our partners are fighting on?”

There was a long beat of silence. 

"Things that are obviously not of your concern,” the spiky haired brat finally said. 

“That just means you don’t know anything!” Gabby groaned. 

“It means I wouldn’t tell you anything even if I _did_ because you don’t have any business being here other than _shady_ business. And if Black Bat told me to keep you here, I will do it with you _unconscious on the ground_ if I have to!” he snapped. 

“If this _Black Bat_ told you to jump off a bridge, would you?” Gabby asked sarcastically. 

“Tt, I’ll have you know, we _blow up_ bridges together, and so jumping off it was a given,” Robin answered in that same snooty way. 

Gabby frowned then looked back out to the ship. “At least it isn’t moving anymore. I guess we just have to wait now,” she sighed before dropping into a sitting position on the pavement. “Hope Wolverine gets done in time for us to get to the hotel and let Jonathan out.”

Robin stared at the ship as well, aggravation coming off him in waves. “Do you have someone _kidnapped_ at this hotel?” he demanded.

“Jonathan’s family,” she said with a wave of her hand. “He’s a wolverine.”

“Tt, sounds like a mascot,” Robin sneered. 

“More like a brother. Our _actual_ half brothers suck,” Gabby sighed. “What about you? You have any siblings?”

Robin’s shoulders dropped and his entire head rolled with his eyes. “More each and every day,” he groaned.

“Cool,” Gabby said with a smile. “Got any sisters?”

At that, Robin’s gaze flickered back to the ship in the distance. Slowly, he lowered himself to a crouch by Gabby, still keeping his gaze level on the harbor. “Yes,” he said.

And that was all he really _needed_ to say. Gabby understood. 

She started watching the harbor again, too.

* * *

Damian knew that regardless of circumstances, it was of the utmost importance to keep vigilant and wait for the inevitable signal from Cassandra that would tell him he was needed. He was _certain_ of it coming sooner rather than later. 

He also knew he was utterly exhausted from the effort he had put forth to fight the new stranger he was now waiting with at the Dixon Docks. 

At some point, he didn’t know _when,_ he must have closed his eyes and left his guard down _just_ enough that he could be surprised by the obnoxious snort of a giggle that was coming from just a few feet in front of them. 

Alarmed, Damian whipped out his batarang, ready to throw, when he realized that the position he had just been in was _so_ compromised and _so_ inexcusable he hadn’t even registered it at first. 

He and the mysterious girl had been sleeping head-to-head, shoulder-to-shoulder before a woman in a yellow-and-blue garish costume stood by Damian’s own sister and snorted in laughter at them.

“Wow, that’s almost _adorable,”_ the woman said. 

“Wolverine!” the girl with Damian cried out, leaping to her feet. She apparently experienced no-such shame from their compromised positions. 

Instead, she raced to Wolverine’s side and wrapped her arms around the woman’s waist. “You smell like smoke, but your clothes are intact, so I don’t think you burned yourself alive again. Sorry your hair is singed. This is all an improvement, though! I’m so used to you being stupid about your healing factor.”

Looking toward Cassandra, Damian was met with an all-too-presumptuous smirk. As if his sister had observed _anything_ worthy of humiliation. Or, more importantly, like she had _any_ history of abusing such situations to her own whims. 

She was _not_ Drake or Todd, after all.

“Where have you been!?” Damian demanded. “You drag me to warehouses, leave me behind, and all for what?”

“Stopped bad guys,” Cass answered simply.

“You’re incorrigible,” Damian spat out.

Wolverine looked toward Cassandra, tilting her head with a sharp toothed smirk. “You’re right. He _does_ get angry when he’s worried. That’s adorable. Mine just gets chatty.”

“I do not, why would you tell strangers that, Wolvie? That’s so rude,” the girl whined. 

After watching the sisters interact for a bit, Damian put an incredulous look Cassandra’s way. “You’re _seriously_ not going to give me more explanation than you _stopped bad guys.”_

She rolled her eyes at him, as if a mask could hide the expression he was more than familiar with from his older siblings. “Penguin’s men. Same connections from Hong Kong. Recognized them on patrol last night. Thought we’d check again tonight. Got lucky.”

“They weren’t shipping arms to Hong Kong, though, they were shipping them to the competition of _our_ connections in Madripoor,” Wolverine revealed. “Trying to take advantage of the lack of cohesion between the various worlds of the Merge for now.”

“Genius,” the girl smirked. 

“It is, which is why Black Bat here has been talking to me about a superhero _four-one-one_ that their original world apparently uses with some frequency,” Wolverine continued.

Damian continued to scrutinize his sister. “You’re sharing secrets about _Oracle_ now, are you?” he demanded.

“Yes,” Cass replied without hesitation. “Need to work together more. If villains can, _we_ can.”

“Looks like you two have already started on the right path,” Wolverine joked. 

Damian’s face felt like a furnace as he rapidly shook his head in disagreement. “We’re as good as bitter enemies! We fight like _dogs!_ She hasn’t even given me a name to curse at her with!” Damian shouted. 

“Talon,” the girl answered. “After my sister’s loser name.”

“Talons have a terrible history in Gotham, you should stay away if you know what’s good for you,” Damian snapped at _Talon_ viciously. An action which led to Cassandra wasting no time in flicking him in the ear for. “Black Bat!”

Ignoring Damian, Cassandra offered Wolverine her hand and a smile. “We’ll… work together again. Know it.”

“You can count on it,” Wolverine assured her. 

When Damian glared over in Talon’s direction she was still wearing that infectious smile as she and her sister turned away to head back from wherever they came. 

He then shifted his glare toward Cass. “You’re the _worst_ partner,” he informed her.

“You’re the best,” Cass joked. “That’s why I brought you.”

“You better _believe_ I’m the best, better than anyone tonight deserved, that’s for sure!” Damian growled out, following Cass in getting his grappling hook out of his utility belt. “You’re willing to team up with _any_ of these unchecked Mergers.”

“Yup,” she said as they took off. “Also willing to watch… your terrible school plays.”

Damian sighed and followed his sister into the Gotham skyline. “O brave new world, that has _such_ people in it!”


End file.
